Scotland’s Landlords Association calls for UC direct payments

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Universal Credit:

Scotland’s leading landlords’ association, The SAL has
called for the housing element of Universal Credit to be paid direct to
landlords for all claimants

The SLA is Scotland’s largest landlord membership
organisation in the private rented sector and has asked the UK and Scottish
Governments to ensure that the housing element of Universal Credit is paid
directly to private and social landlords for all Scottish claimants.

In giving his oral evidence to the social security committee
of the Scottish Parliament, reported by Scottish
Housing News, John Blackwood, chief executive of SAL, said the move will
encourage landlords to provide homes to benefit recipients.

John Blackwood said that SAL believes this move would also
increase the supply of housing, prevent rent arrears, help tackle homelessness
and reduce the need for councils to provide temporary accommodation.

Currently, the Universal Credit regime limits direct payments
to those tenants with what are defined as tier 1 or tier 2 vulnerabilities*
such as addiction, mental health issues, bereavement or those not in education,
employment or training.

In giving his evidence Mr Blackwood pointed out a number of
other problems with Universal Credit which are leading to landlords avoiding renting
to Universal Credit recipients. These would include:

• Poor response times from DWP
• Misleading or incorrect information being given
  to landlords and tenants
• Unclear payment schedules

These types of delays and confusions are leading to tenants
building up significant rent arrears, and discouraging landlords from providing
housing to Universal Credit recipients, he said.

Speaking after giving evidence to the committee, John
Blackwood told Scottish Housing News:

“Private landlords in Scotland want to provide high quality
accommodation to anyone who wants it, including those receiving Universal
Credit. However, landlords are constantly frustrated and discouraged from doing
so because of the uncertainty inherent in the current system.

“In addition to numerous administrative delays and confusion
which see landlords and tenants receiving inaccurate or misleading information,
the limitation that only some of those on Universal Credit have their housing
element paid directly to their landlord, be that private or social, is a
significant systematic flaw.

“We want to see changes made that would see the housing
element paid directly to landlords in all instances. This would provide a
degree of certainty and help prevent tenants getting into rent arrears, thus
encouraging private landlords to continue to provide housing to those on
Universal Credit.

“This increase in supply would help to tackle homelessness and reduce the pressure on councils to provide temporary accommodation which is sometimes of very poor quality. The committee seemed receptive to these ideas and arguments and I hope will recommend urgent action is taken.�

Scottish Association of Landlords

SAL’s written evidence to the social security committee can be seen here

*Vulnerability is
generally defined as someone who is more likely than the ‘average’ person to
suffer detriment or harm if they become homeless. Although this is not intended
to be an exhaustive definition, as each case should be considered on its own
merits, for the purpose of this Protocol the types of people who may be
considered to be vulnerable can include:

• Families
  with children under 18 and pregnant women;
• 16-17 year
  olds;
• Households
  experiencing domestic violence and abuse;
• People
  with mental health problems;
• Older
  people;
• People
  with a physical disability;
• People
  with a learning difficulty;
• People
  with alcohol or substance misuse problems;
• Asylum
  seekers or refugees;
• Former
  rough sleepers;
• Ex-offenders;
• People
  with multiple problems e.g. mental health and alcohol problems.

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